Weekend Reading | Vol. 11

I have Internet! And there will be much rejoicing.

I am loving Santa Barbara and settling in to my new job and new apartment and new city with amazing ease. More on that later.

I felt kind of bad celebrating my excitement over the last week and a half, especially with all the grief and outrage over police brutality was erupting across social media. I wanted to share my happiness, without appearing completely tone deaf. I was alone in a new city halfway across the country from everyone I love, and I wanted to connect with people, but it felt…tacky.

I also have been struggling with balancing self care with my longing to do something. A friend posted this perspective from the Talmud, and it resonated with me.

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it.

Links of Note

By watching documentaries like these and learning the inner workings of the plus size fashion industry — from blogging to running brands; from fashion week to modeling — we can further understand the positives and negatives of being a plus size consumer in contemporary culture. These films not only inspire hope, but they inspire change, too.

As anyone who shopped at Delia*s and once owned a teeny tiny backpack knows, Cher and Dionne were not necessarily the most literary of all the students at Bronson Alcott High. However, 1995 blockbuster hit Clueless is surprisingly chock full o’ book references.

Whether women are being encouraged to rid our homes of useless belongings, or urged to shop for new ones, the result is the same: Society continues to associate women with the home and the material, men with the outside and experiences. While the enjoyment of domestic life, of stuff, isn’t inherently negative, it is dismissed precisely because of its associations with the feminine. An orientation towards stuff over experiences, moreover, gets cast either as recklessly materialist or, as Tony perceives it, an impediment to enjoying life. The only constant is that what women prefer, or are imagined to prefer, is thought inferior.

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Glad you are settling in, and what a great quote. The issues in the world have played a big role in my inability to deal with my anxiety recently. I definitely should have taken some sick days… : / I love the stationery of course! 🙂 I got a few of the ABM boxes recently and I can’t wait to use them. XO – Alexandra